Farmers Movement Archive

Charuni detained in Meerut: Farmers hold BJP MLA captive in Hisar

Anguished over the detention of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni in Meerut, farmers on Monday held BJP’s Hisar MLA Kamal Gupta captive at the local government guest house.The farmers were raising anti-government slogans at the main hall of the rest house when MLA Gupta reached there to meet party workers regarding their strategy for the Ellenabad bypoll.On spotting the MLA, a group of protesters surrounded him in the building’s lobby, not allowing him to leave.High drama continued for about half an hour, before the police went in and brought the legislator out.Interacting with mediapersons after the incident, Gupta alleged that the farmers held him captive and manhandled him. “A few of them tore my kurta amid the melee. The farmers can’t indulge in such behaviour. I am not lodging any police complaint, but the incident depicts that miscreants are waiting to manhandle public representatives once they come out in public,” he said.On the other hand, local farmer leader Ranbir Singh alleged that the MLA reached the rest house while farmers were present there to intentionally provoke them.He claimed that the farmers only raised slogans as a mark of protest and no one manhandled the MLA.BKU activists gherao Haryana CM’s house in KarnalFarmers on Monday started an indefinite protest outside the residence of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Karnal to protest farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni’s detention in Uttar Pradesh.They threatened to intensify their agitation on Tuesday morning by blocking all highways of Haryana if Charuni was not released by Monday night.The protesters said Charuni was going to Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning, when he and his aides were illegally detained by the UP police.Soon after the farmers reached the CM’s residence in Prem Nagar in the heart of Karnal city, the administration deployed police in the locality.Similar protests were reported in Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts, as BKU activists blocked the Hisar-Chandigarh highway at Titram Chowk in Kaithal.In Shahbad of Kurukshetra district, farmers gheraoed residences of sports minister Sandeep Singh and JJP MLA Ram Karan. “The protests will continue and will spread in the entire state if he is not released soon,” said Rakesh Bains, spokesperson of BKU (Charuni).Statewide protests against Lakhimpur Kheri violence, CM’s remarksEarlier in the day, farmers held peaceful demonstrations at the district headquarters across the state against the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s reported “pick- up sticks” and “tit-for-tat” advice to the BJP Kisan Morcha workers.The protesters assembled in large numbers following a call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and held sit-in protests for three hours till 1pm, amid heavy police deployment.They reached the respective mini-secretariats, resorted to anti-government sloganeering and submitted memorandums to deputy commissioners (DCs) addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking action against the BJP leaders involved in the violence.They also sought the chief minister’s resignation for allegedly advising BJP workers to launch tit-for-tat action against the farmers protesting against the Centre’s three farm laws and not allowing the BJP-JJP leaders to hold public functions in the state.In Kaithal, tension prevailed when the protesters blocked the highway. As per reports, when the farmers went to hand over a memorandum to DC Pradeep Dhaiya, he did not come out for hours.When protesters blocked the Karnal-Kaithal highway, Kaithal SDM Sanjay Kumar rushed to the spot to pacify them and received the memorandum. According to Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU, Charuni) Rohtak district president Raju Makrauli, khaps and farmers blocked the Rohtak-Chandigarh national highway near Makrauli Kalan village of Rohtak and the Jind-Hisar road till 1pm.Ravi Azad, BKU’s state youth president, said protests were peaceful at all district headquarters.“Farmers are capable of giving a befitting reply to Khattar. It is deplorable that the CM is asking his party workers to retaliate violently,” said a protesting farmer leader Jagdip Aulakh.Congress burns UP, Haryana CMs’ effigiesMeanwhile, Congress workers burnt effigies of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.They held protests against Khattar’s reported remarks, now viral on social media, wherein BJP workers were advised to raise groups of 500-700 volunteers armed with lathis in each district of north and west Haryana, and retaliate against the protesting farmers. “The CM has used highly provocative language. He should resign. It is shameful that a CM is asking people to hold sticks against farmers,” said Tarlochan Singh, a Congress leader from Karnal.The protesters also gathered in large numbers in Ambala and Yamunanagar and demanded action against those responsible for the “murders” of the farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri. A large number of activists affiliated to BKU (Charuni) protested at DC offices in both the regions and burnt Khattar’s effigies.

Hindustan Times

05-10-2021

Chandigarh